Adjustable waist band or belt



' p 3,1937.- m. B. STEINBERG 2,076,925

ADJUSTABLE WAIS'I' BAND 0R BELT Filed Oct. 16, 1936 e, w. a,

9 IN VEN TOR.

3 .%umz@,Bg;5Z ?wZer 11%...73 9 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES ADJUSTABLE WAIST BAND E BELT Maurice B. Steinberg, Coney Island, N. Y as- 4 signor of one-half to Irving Cohen, Brooklyn,

Application October 16,

1936, Serial No. 106,051

3 Claims. (ion. 2-237) This invention relates to apparel and more particularly to an adjustable band or belt which may.

i 10 Buttons have been found unsatisfactory as they become broken or detached and have to .be replaced with a needle and thread which is very troublesome and in fact'can not be if they become broken or detached while the garment is being 15 worn.

Therefore one object of the invention is to provide a band or belt which is so constructed that a portion thereof constitutes the securing means and can not become broken or detached, thus eliminating inconvenience due to loss of buttons and permitting a garment tobe laundered without buttons being broken by an iron or mangle or causing the rollers of a mangle to be scarred or their covers torn.

It has also been found that when the waist band of a garment is secured by buttons they cause pressure which is very uncomfortable to the wearer and therefore another object of the invention is to provide means for securing end portions of the band or belt in overlapping relation to each other with the fasteningmeans spaced from each other longitudinally ofthe, band or belt and fitting flatly against the same without projecting and causing pressure.

When buttons or buckles are employed as"se-,

curing means for a band or belt'it is necessary to manufacture garments in a large number of sizes and it is therefore another object of the invention to provide fastening means of such construction that by making garments in a few sizes a garment of approximately the proper size may be snugly secured about a person's waist.

Efforts have been made to produce a band or belt which will fit snugly without undue pressure by providing elastic sections but they have not proved satisfactory as the elastic soon deteriorates and loses its elasticity to such an extent that the band no longer fits properly and if tapes which are to be tied or secured by buckles are used the tapes easily tear loose or the buckles become rusted or otherwise corroded and either cause rust stains to be formed or are liable to catch in other garments during laundering and cause them to be torn.

These objections are not present when a band or belt is constructed in accordance with this 111- vention as the fastening means constitutes fiat extensions of ends of the band or belt which are tucked through openings formed in overlapped portions of the band and very firmly hold the band or belt adjusted without disagreeable pressure and are not liable to be broken or torn loose or cause other garments to be torn or stained.

Still another object of the invention resides in providing'a construction which is simple and du-' rable, inexpensive to manufacture and one which will be very emcient in use.

With these and. numerous other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter referred to and more particuarly pointed out in the specification and claims. I

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a view showing a garment provided with a waist band of the improved construction and secured;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the garment showing the waist band released;

v Figure 3 is a sectional viewupon an enlarged scale taken longitudinally through the secured waist band along the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating another mannerof securing the ends of the waist band;

Figure 5 is a sectional view upon an enlarged scale taken transversely through the waist band along the line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure, 6 is a sectional view taken transversely through an end portion of the waist band upon either of the lines li -6' of Figure 2; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 1-4 of Figure 2. I

In the accompanying drawing a waist band l a of the improved construction has been shown as part of a pair of shorts 2 but it is to be understood that this merely illustrates one practical application of the invention and that any garment may have its waist encircling portion formed in 5 the improved manner or the invention may be embodied in a belt worn either outside of or under a garment. A

.The waist band i may be formed of flexible material such as fabric, leather or the like but in the present illustration is formed of the same type of fabric from which the garment is formed. In forming the waist band a strip of fabric has been folded longitudinally to provide a band having inner and outer walls 3 and 4 as shown in Figure 5, it being understood that this is an exaggerated view and that in actual practise the walls 3 and 4 will contact with each other. Lower edge portions of the walls 3 and 4 are folded inwardly and upwardly as shown at 5 and secured by stitching 6 against inner and outer faces of the upper portion of the garment and the upper portions of the walls of the band are secured by stitching I. While the band has been shown formed from a strip of material folded longitudinally toprovide the two walls 3 and 4 it is to be understood that separate strips may be used in which case upper portions of the walls will be turned inwardly and secured by stitching in the same manner that lower marginal portions of the walls are stitched.

End portions of the band are tapered as shown at 8 to provide tongues having their upper and lower marginal portions folded inwardly as shown at 9 and secured by the stitching 6 and I. Before marginal portions of the tongues are stitched together short plates I0 formed of stiff but somewhat flexible material such as metal, celluloid, hard rubber or any other desired composition are placed between the extremities of the tongues with the folded edge portions bearing against their side faces as shown in Figure '7 and after the folded marginal portions have been secured by the stitching 6 and I a line of stitching II is formed across each tongue adjacent the inner end of the plate mounted therein to prevent the plate from slipping longitudinally out of its proper position. The cross stitching II also defines a fold line and permits the tab I2 formed by the reinforced free end portion of the tongue to be very easily folded back upon the tongue as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The waist band is to be adjusted longitudinally in order to cause it to fit snugly about a person and therefore one end portion thereof is formed with a transverse slit I3 which extends through both walls 3 and 4 and is reinforced by buttonhole stitching so that it will not fray out about its edges. The tongue 8 of the other end of the band is passed outwardly through this slit, thus disposing end portions of the band in overlapping relation to each other and the tongues drawn upon until the band has been properly tightened about a persons waist. The tabs I2 are then folded inwardly back upon the tongues and each passed into a pocket I4 formed by stitching portions of the outer wall of the band to the inner wall as shown at I5. Each pocket has its outer wall formed with a plurality of slits or openings I6 reinforced by buttonhole stitching and spaced from each other longitudinally of the band and the pockets. While each pocket has been shown formed with three openings I6 it is to be understood that as many openings as desired may be provided according to the length of the pocket. As the tabs I2 are folded inwardly they are passed through selected openings of the pockets and may be disposed flat between inner and outer walls of the pockets longitudinally thereof as shown in Figure 3 or have their free end portions passed outwardly through another set of openings as shown in Figure 4. In either case the pressure of the secured waist band against a person and the fact that the tabs are stiffened by the plates III causes the tabs to be firmly held in place and prevented from working out of the pockets and accidentally releasing the tongues. It will thus be seen that the waist band will be firmly held in the adjusted condition and maintained snugly about a persons waist. No buttons are used which are liable to be broken or tear loose and also it is not necessary to provide adjusting means at sides of the waist band such as tapes which must be tied or secured by buckles and are liable to tear loose or cause damage by their buckles tearing other garments during laundering or become rusted or corroded and form stains.

When it is desired to remove the garment or readjust the waist band it is merely necessary to slide the tabs outwardly through the slits or openings I6 through which they were thrust into the pockets and the overlapped end portions of the band separated from each other or the tabs engaged in another set of openings to again secure the ends of the waist band in an adjusted position. i

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improved apparatus, the application of the same to use will be readily understood. It will be seen that I have provided a simple, inexpensive and eificient means for carrying out the objects of the invention.

While I have particularly described the elements best adapted to perform the functions set forth, it is obvious that various changes in form, proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the principles of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:-

1. Apparel comprising an elongated member of a length adapting it to extend about a portion of a persons body with its end portions overlapped, one end portion having inner and outer walls, one wall being formed with an opening,

the said walls having portions secured together about the opening in close proximity thereto to define a restricted area providing a pocket having the opening as its entrance, and the other end portion of said elongated member being provided with a stiffened tab extending longitudinally thereof and adapted to be folded back upon itself and passed through the opening into the pocket and confined therein in a folded condition to secure the elongated member about the wearer.

2. Apparel comprising a body-encircling band formed of inner and outer walls and having free ends,'one wall of each of said end portions being provided with an opening, portions of the inner and outer walls being secured together about the openings in close proximity thereto to provide restricted pockets having the openings as entrances, and the free ends of said band being provided with stiffened tabs adapted to be folded back and each passed through the entrance opening of the pocket of the other end portion of the band and confined in the pocket in a folded condition to releasably secure the band.

3. Apparel comprising a body having a waist band provided with extended free end portions, said band having inner and outer walls and having its extended end portions shaped to provide tongues, a member in the outer extremity of each tongue forming a stiffened tab of the free end portion of the tongue, stitching extending across said tongues to retain the stiffening members in place and constitute hinge portions adapting the tabs to be folded back upon the tongues, one end portion of said waist band having a passage formed through both its walls to slidably receive the tongue of the other end portion therethrough and dispose the end portions of the waist band in overlapped relation to each other, the outer wall of each end portion being formed with openings spaced trom'eech other longituy thereof, portions of the outer wall of each end portion of the waist band being secured together about the openings to define a, at heving 5 margins in close proximity to the openis, the

openings constituting entrances for the pockets whereby the tongue of each end portion m 

